Twenty-three years later, Ellie is still living with the guilt. Andrea’s death also signaled the death of her parents’ marriage, and Ellie has had a rough go of it. Andrea’s killer is about to have his third parole hearing, and Ellie, now an investigative reporter, is determined that he doesn’t see the light of day. When parole is granted, Ellie begins a new assignment - dig up as many nasty details of the killer’s past as she can, and make sure he goes back to where he belongs - behind bars.

I rediscovered Mary Higgins Clark with last year’s exciting On The Street Where You Live, and was anxious to read her latest. While an enjoyable read, I couldn’t help but feel that the author was messing with her mojo in Daddy’s Little Girl. Clark treads a new path this time out by writing the bulk of the story in first person - with the exception of a few flashback scenes, the story is told entirely from Ellie’s perspective.

While I liked Ellie, I would argue that she is Clark’s most complex heroine to date - she isn’t always very likeable. Ellie is a vigilante. The killer has served his time, but she is single-mindedly determined to see him back in prison. She stops at nothing to obtain any dirty little detail that she can - including dealing with unsavory characters that may not be telling her the truth. While Clark does a good job of setting up Ellie’s character (why she is the way she is), she is not going to be universally loved among the author’s fan base.

Daddy’s Little Girl also brought up a legal question in my mind, that I had to research on my own. When new evidence becomes known, the paroled killer plans to seek a new trial. Immediately I wondered how this was possible given double jeopardy - a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime. The author does nothing to explain this. Lucky for me, a fellow TMR reviewer is a law librarian and set me straight - in essence, there are exceptions to double jeopardy, and the killer can get a new trial. I find it a little hard to believe that I would be the only reader who would have this question - why the author didn’t take a few sentences to explain the legalities is troublesome.

I have a feeling that Daddy’s Little Girl will find more appeal among new readers than Clark’s fan base. Fans who enjoy Clark’s use of head hopping - telling the story from multiple points of view - may find her latest lacking in the page-turning suspense department. Moreover, while I found Ellie a complex character, others may find her vigilantism a bit hard to swallow.

While a mixed read for this reviewer, others may find Clark’s new sense of direction revitalizing. Those worried about her mojo, may want to think ahead to the paperback edition, or hit their local library.

--Wendy Crutcher